QSS Archive – QSS Studios & Gallery

‘Ninety one stone stairs lead up to Queen Street Studios, a draughty fourth floor expanse of work spaces fed by the labyrinthine corridors which for the past decade had been an unlikely hub of artistic activity in Belfast city centre. ’

– Nuala Haughty, taken from ‘Queen Street Studios. Four floors up, 68 artists and ten years on’, published in Beyond the Partitions.

The QSS Archive.

As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are proud to present a unique archival display that highlights the many individuals who have shaped QSS; from the pioneering artists who founded the studios in 1984 to the emerging talents of today.

Featuring photographs, posters, historical documents, and more, this display offers a glimpse into our history and the evolution of QSS over the last four decades. Each archival piece tells a story of creativity, perseverance, and QSS’s lasting influence on the arts in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Here, we invite you to explore the history of QSS, demonstrated more extensively in person, as you move through the stairwell and hallways of our gallery spaces.

QSS was established in 1984, by The Artists Collective of Northern Ireland, a group of art graduates, students and practising artists, formed to provide “a more stimulating climate for the visual artists in Northern Ireland”. Supported by a grant of £3,000 from the Arts Council, alongside reduced rent from a sympathetic landlord, QSS was created.

The studio members debut show, “Collective Images” marked the beginning of 40 years of creative collaboration.

As QSS hit its first major milestone in 1994, we celebrated with the publishing of ‘Beyond the Partitions’, a catalogue of the history of QSS and its artists. In this publication, essays from studio members and art historians reflected on the cultural landscape and how it had changed over the past decade. This publication also served as a showcase of the work created by the 68 studio artists who had been through the doors of Queen Street Studios.

As our members and administrators pursued funding support and built new connections, opportunities for artists expanded. These opportunities included studio exchanges (both within the island of Ireland and internationally), along with bursary programmes and exhibitions.

‘On a drizzly winter morning in February 1994, five of the studios’ artists are huddled in the communal space clutching their coffee mugs for warmth while the heater struggles feebly to make an impression on the cold atmosphere. These artists agree that, given the reasonable rents in Queen Street Studios of between £20 and £40 per month, the conditions are “not bad”.’

Nuala Haughty

In the last 40 years, QSS has undergone a series of transformations.

In May of 2013, we moved out of our original building on Queen Street and relocated to Bedford Street. With studio spaces upstairs, and ground floor street-access to a gallery, this new chapter kept us moving forward in an ever-changing arts sector.

In January of 2019, QSS went East.

After extensive renovations, we moved into our current space at The Arches Centre (Bloomfield Avenue) in early 2019, transforming the former offices into our bright and welcoming gallery and studios. In June of the same year, we launched our first exhibition, and over the past five years, we’ve continued to host solo and group shows, build and maintain partnerships, welcome bursary recipients, facilitate school workshops, and so much more.

Whilst the future of the arts in Northern Ireland remains challenging, we aim to build on our strong foundations and continue providing accessible, affordable artist studios and exhibition space for many years to come.